Has heightened uncertainty been a major contributor to the Great Recession and the slow recovery in the U.S.? To answer this question, we identify exogenous changes in six uncertainty proxies and quantify their contributions to GDP growth and the unemployment rate. Our results are threefold....

We investigate the effects of uncertainty shocks on unemployment dynamics in the post- WWII U.S. recessions via non-linear (Smooth-Transition) VARs. The relevance of uncertainty shocks is found to be much larger than that predicted by standard linear VARs in terms of (i) magnitude of the...

A growing empirical literature has considered the impact of uncertainty using SVAR models that include proxies for uncertainty shocks as endogenous variables. In this paper we consider the possible impact of measurement error in the uncertainty shock proxies on the estimated impulse responses...

We employ a nonlinear VAR to document the asymmetric reaction of real economic activity to uncertainty shocks. An uncertainty shock occurring in recessions triggers an abrupt and deep drop followed by a quick rebound and a temporary overshoot. The same shock hitting in expansions induces a...

We investigate the effects of uncertainty shocks on unemployment dynamics in the post-WWII U.S. recessions via non-linear (Smooth-Transition) VARs. The relevance of uncertainty shocks is found to be much larger than that predicted by standard linear VARs in terms of i) magnitude of the reaction...

This paper investigates the interaction between uncertainty and monetary policy by estimating a non-linear VAR with US post-WWII data. The uncertainty indicator is treated both as an endogenous variable in the VAR and as the transition indicator discriminating "high" vs. "low" uncertainty...

This paper investigates if the impact of uncertainty shocks on the US economy has changed over time. To this end, we develop an extended Factor Augmented VAR model that simultaneously allows the estimation of a measure of uncertainty and its time-varying impact on a range of variables. We find...

We estimate capacity output and cycles relative to it in India’s non-agricultural sector from 1951 to 2008, defining capacity as the level of output beyond which demand leads to a rise in prices. We postulate a delayed response of the price level of non-agricultural goods and services after...

Constructing bootstrap confidence intervals for impulse response functions (IRFs) from structural vector autoregression (SVAR) models has become standard practice in empirical macroeconomic research. The accuracy of such confidence intervals can deteriorate severely, however, if the bootstrap...

The main goal of the paper is to assess a degree of coherence of macroeconomic shocks in the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovak Republic, collectively: V4). We set out to consider the historical decomposition of unobservable supply and demand disturbances among V4...